Moses Sumney Believes in the Life-Affirming Powers of Oprah

Our interview series Icebreaker features artists talking about things—some strange, some amusing, some meaningful—that just might reveal their true selves. This edition features otherworldly L.A. singer-songwriter Moses Sumney, whose latest EP, Lamentations, is available now. His debut album is due out next year.

Do you think your life would be better or worse without social media?

Infinitely better. As artists, it’s important to step away from the noise, go into isolation, and have moments when your mind is clear. As a human being, I would probably be more intelligent, more fulfilled, and less anxious if I didn’t have constant access to social media and to the internet. I would read books more, have more conversations.

Whenever I go away to write, I try to go into the mountains where there’s no phone service and no internet—and that’s always when I’m the most happy and ideas are flowing the most in my brain. I genuinely do think that I would have finished my album a lot earlier if I didn’t have access to the internet. Of course, I would have lost my lead single, which is called “Snapchat,” [laughs] but I would have been done five years ago. Win some, lose some.

Who would you want to play you in a film about your life?

Viola Davis or Willow Smith

What YouTube video have you watched the most times?

There’s a really good one of Oprah. She has this annual luncheon at her house where she just invites everyone. Well, not me—but a lot of really talented people. There’s a bunch of singers and a gospel band, and they just toss the microphone around to people in the audience and it goes around to Shirley Caesar and Patti LaBelle, who are just, like, riffing. It’s just a typical Sunday afternoon at Oprah’s house.

I’m really into Oprah. I lived in Ghana for six years when I was growing up, from ages 10 to 16. There was only three TV stations, and the programming was really weird; everything that was daytime television in America was primetime television in Ghana. So I used to watch the Oprah show every night at dinner after school. I learned a lot about life, actually, and how to be a good, functioning, healthy person.

What’s the last TV show that you binge watched?

“Mr. Robot.” I just finished the second season and I will fight [writer/director] Sam Esmail on sight. I’m ready to meet him in a parking lot. The show is just so complicated and frustrating and it doesn’t give you the typical payoff. I mean, I like having challenging art to deal with—but part of that challenge, for me, is wanting to fight the director.

What’s a moment in your life when you felt like a real idiot?

When I miss a flight. Last year I missed six flights in a row. I have intense ADHD, so I’ll often forget something and it will mess up the whole agenda because I wasn’t paying attention.

What’s a moment when you felt like the smartest person on earth?

That must be a nice feeling; I hope to experience that one day.

What is your favorite joke?

I don’t have a go-to joke. I don’t believe in humor. The god of darkness has ordained that I shall not laugh.

What’s the last song you heard that made you really believe in the power of music?

My music. I get really uncomfortable when people tell me that they like it, especially other artists, or when people want me to play them music. In L.A., people are so into playing their demos for other people. You’ll be at a party and they’ll turn the music off and be like, “Yo yo yo—check out this demo that I made the other day.” I find that incredibly strange. I don’t play my music for anyone, even the people I work with. It’s just so personal and I think it’s so bad that I don’t want to share it. I always think it’s the worst music ever made. It’s kind of like body dysmorphia: Everyone can tell you that you’re the hottest person in the room, but ultimately the only thing that really matters is how you view yourself and your own body of work. Even though there are external signs that people enjoy my music, I can’t shake the feeling of: This isn’t good enough. I aspire to make art that’s good, but I don’t know if I aspire to personally feel good about it.

Do you believe in ghosts?

I’m down. If I see a ghost I would probably be like, “Yo, that’s a ghost.”

What fictional character do you relate to most?

Steve Urkel

How you would describe yourself as a dancer?

I’m a good dancer for someone who is tall and lanky—I don’t always look like Shaggy from “Scooby-Doo.” I like to dance in my bedroom to Yeezus or Run the Jewels when there’s no one around.

What’s the worst job that you ever had?

My first—and worst—job was working at the clothing store Hollister. I was 18. They call the people that work in the front of the store “models,” but you’re really just a store assistant. It’s really superficial in a gross way. One of the things that sucked about the company was you couldn’t work without wearing the clothes, but they wouldn’t provide you with clothes—so you had to actually buy the clothes in order to work there.